Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Sports Digital Leans on Vizrt's TriCaster Vizion for HRP-Style Productions in New Orleans

Live From Super Bowl LIX: FOX Sports Digital Leans on Vizrt's TriCaster Vizion for HRP-Style Productions in New Orleans Shows on Bourbon Street are being produced in the network's compound at Caesars Superdome By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 9:00 am

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NFL fans around the nation are waiting for the first whistle of Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, but to fill the time until kickoff, studio shows are previewing the action, highlighting the host city, and having some fun throughout the week. From their studio set on Bourbon Street and production staff back at the broadcast compound, FOX Sports Digital is churning out content to all of their dedicated platforms.

We're doing all of our shows via Home Run Production back here [at Caesars Superdome], says Ricardo Perez-Selsky, senior director, digital production operations, FOX Sports. We're using HRPs primarily for that, but also for our American Sign Language stream of pregame and halftime as well as content with Jameis Winston from inside the stadium.

An In-Town HRP: Crew at FOX Sports Compound Handles Programming in the French Quarter The city of New Orleans is extremely compact, which is a reason why the Super Bowl has been hosted here for a record-setting 11th time in the game's 59-year history. The close proximity of the Caesars Superdome to key spots in town like the French Quarter allows fans to walk from one place to another, but from a broadcast perspective, there isn't much room to park a mobile unit. This is especially true when FOX Sports decided to locate their studio programming within the tight environment of Bourbon Street. Calling this famous thoroughfare home for the week, the network's digital team has a dedicated space for multiple shows, including All Facts No Brakes with Keyshawn Johnson, the NFL on FOX Podcast with Dave Hellman, and Bear Bets: A Fox Sports Gambling Show with Chris Bear Fallica and Geoff Schwartz.

Along with this live content, the crew has followed around former New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston to capture his Super Bowl experience:

Truly savoring every moment with @Jaboowins and his W-shaped beignet #JameisOnFOX pic.twitter.com/2FqqvdW9uJ

FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 6, 2025

All of these shows have been distributed on their various pflatforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, the FOX Sports app, FOXSports.com, and Tubi - the network's FAST channel that will broadcast Sunday's game completely free. Due to the cramped quarters in the French Quarter, the crew is remotely producing everything from their setup in the stadium's broadcast compound.

We're tied in with the FSJE [Fox Sports Jewel Events] system, so we're taking SDI feeds both ways, says John Marcus, director, technical operations, FOX Sports. We also have a 10G EVPL private internet line with Lumen.

Chris Bear Fallica on the set of Bear Bets: A Fox Sports Gambling Show.

A Clear Vizion: Vizrt's New Switcher Alleviates Stress During Busy Week in the Crescent City For a more simplified approach, the team is relying on a formula that worked at another marquee sporting event: the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup in Qatar. FOX Sports Digital leveraged two flypacks at the international soccer tournament, and one of those flypacks are currently with them in New Orleans. Another workflow that's been added to the list is Vizrt's TriCaster Vizion, the company's agile and customizable production switcher. Providing more opportunities to ingest a high number of incoming video feeds, the scalable solution can handle smaller scale productions like the studio shows throughout the week and larger scale productions that will be seen on Sunday. The switcher's ability to handle numerous sources is also allowing the team to send outputs back to their facility in Los Angeles through AWS Elemental.

We wanted to find something a little bit more robust, says Marcus. [TC Vizion] has a lot more capabilities and flexibility, so it's been working really well.

This reliable solution has become pivotal to the staff's weeklong success. Because of the constant shifting that occurs in a busy part of town like Bourbon Street and a packed schedule of events at both Caesars Superdome and Smoothie King Center that prevented FOX Sports from settling into the compound only days before their first televised show, the timetable was significantly shortened.

The setup for FOX Sports Digital at the broadcast compound.

This is the most complicated event that we put together in the shortest period of time, says Chris Cheshire, manager, technical operations, FOX Sports. We only had two days to set up, especially with so many different things happening.

In addition to the quick turnaround, the network decided to bring a lot of their own equipment needs in house. This includes different audio mixes through Yamaha consoles and internally owned cameras and lighting fixtures.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/02/08/live-from-super-bowl-lix-fox-sp...
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